Quarter-Life Crisis is a collaboration between Ryan Hemsworth and various artists who’ve come to prominence over the past couple of years, many of whom got their start playing scrappy DIY shows. The self-titled debut EP released on December 4th, 2020 features contributions from Frances Quinlan (Hop Along), Meg Duffy (Hand Habits), Charlie Martin (Hovvdy), Yohuna, and Claud. It showcases Hemsworth in a new phase of his career, one that is perhaps a bit less indebted to the nightclub dance floor. “It’s always been a goal to mix, like, 25% electronic sounds and 75% live indie rock sounds,” he says. Collaboration is paramount to Hemsworth’s process, and though he produced all of the instrumentation on the album, he left the lyrics and intention of the song up to the contributors. The resulting collection shapeshifts from track-to-track, taking on new personalities as it moves between artists.
Quarter-Life Crisis, Ryan Hemsworth’s new collaborative project, today shared another new track from their self-titled EP: “You & Me” featuring Claud. Quarter-Life Crisis’ debut EP also features collaborations with Frances Quinlan (Hop Along), Charlie Martin (Hovvdy), Hand Habits, and Yohuna. Collaboration is paramount to Hemsworth’s process, and though he produced all of the live instrumentation on the album, he left the lyrics and intention of the song up to the contributors. The resulting collection shape-shifts from track-to-track, taking on new personalities as it moves between artists.
Of the track, Claud said “Ryan sent me a bunch of really pretty guitar tracks around the time I had just moved to New York… it was a new city, I was alone, and I was definitely deep in my feels. The song sorta turned into a yearning winter love song. When I sent it back to him after I wrote it I asked him not to laugh at me for the corny-ness of the lyrics… sometimes lyrics just need to say it like it is.”
A newly released track “You & Me” featuring Claud. Taken from the Debut EP from Quarter-Life Crisis, the new project from Ryan Hemsworth, out December 4th. Featuring Frances Quinlan of Hop Along, Hand Habits, Charlie Martin of Hovvdy, Claud, & Yohuna.
Delightful yet poignant, the music of Brighton band Orchards is rooted in math rock but embraces a bright alt pop shine that electrifies their live shows as their frenzied fans dance to their powerful messages.
Orchards are drummer Will Lee-Lewis, singer Lucy Evers with Sam Rushton and Dan Fane playing bass.
Following the release of their lauded first album ‘Lovecore’ earlier this year, Orchards announce a headline tour in support of their new material during Spring 2021.
“It’s our statement, a flag in the ground letting people know we’re here and this is exactly what we’re all about. It’s the product of years of touring, meeting new people, hard times, good times, loss, friendships and growth. We’re starting a party, and everyone’s invited.” –
By balancing impassioned lyrics, positive vibes and infections riffs, math rock fourpiece Orchards were the new stars on the scene to quickly to create their own buzz, with their name often cropping up in the music press eventually leading to getting gigs in the US playing for DIY magazine before their storming set at SWSX in 2019.
Eagerly awaited, the Brighton based quartet dropped their debut album ‘Lovecore’ Daring to really show their vulnerable side, the songs explore themes of loss, heartache, depression and sexism through raw and honest vocals that earnestly burst with passion. Songs like ‘Girlfriend’ and ‘Social Sobriety’ inhabit dark and brooding corners to reflect the seriousness of these subject matters, whereas other tracks like ‘Sincerely Overwhelmed’, ‘Give Me’ and ‘Stealing Your Sleep’ prefer to explore the ideas with a bright sense of optimism and hope.
Speaking to Dork Magazine, Lucy outlined just how personal the first full length record was to them; “I mean, not to get emotional but it’s been a lifetime in the making for all of us. It’s the first album any of us have ever released throughout all of our musical endeavours. So, yeah it’s been three years in the making but a lifetime really for us all. We’re super proud of what we’ve created.”
Catch your new favourite alt pop band Orchards when they kick off the tour for first album ‘Lovecore’ in March
Irish indie rock has new champions in the form of thrilling rising band Pillow Queens. Daringly different but with tremendous mainstream appeal, they have just launched debut album ‘In Waiting’ ahead of a proposed UK tour!
Band members include vocalist Sarah Corcoran, lead guitarist Pamela Connolly, guitarist\bassist Pamela Connolly and drummer Rachel Lyons.
“We’re a four-piece from Ireland, half of us from Dublin, half from the outside of Dublin. We make music that’s been described, rather delicately by Blindboy, as a mix between Sonic Youth and Dolores O’Riordan” – Sarah Corcoran
Forming just four years ago, Pillow Queens music has seen them already amass a strong fanbase with their sound that embraces scuzzy guitars, bright melodies and embracing their distinct accents. Choosing to embrace politics, they address social issues as we as their own queer identity which made early EPs ‘Calm Girls’ and ‘State Of The State’ essential listening.
“It might grate on some people, which is inevitable, but feck them. It is what it is. Even if we didn’t use our accents, we’d still annoy someone.” – Sarah Corcoran
When it came time to record their first album, the band retreated to a studio nestled in the rural northwest of Ireland at Donegal. Something about the grander of the widescreen landscape poured into the music as debut LP ‘In Waiting’ expands on their sound and elevates it to even greater thrilling heights.
Released at the end of last month, ‘In Waiting’ includes the energetic single ‘Handsome Wife’ which describes the longing for home whilst living on the road. Tinged with nostalgia and romance, it’s the queer anthem that is breaking through into the straight world celebrating the LGBTQ+ enclaves that can be found in every community. Tender and euphoric, it’s a joyous listen with a warm rallying cry which is a highlight of their live sets.
“It’s funny. The song was inspired by coming home from tour and looking at the world in a very romanticised way. It kind of became a little bit of an anthem in championing a way of life which may not be this cookie cutter image of what your life should be.” – Pamela Connolly
It’s been a long time since Pillow Queens have been able to take to the stage and so excitement is riding high for the band and their followers alike. Catch them when they tour their first album ‘In Waiting’ in Spring ’21 plus the make an appearance at exciting new Sheffield festival Get Together too
New York based band The Antlers have a new song, The Antlers are back with their first new music in six years. Following the album, 2014’s “Familiars” Pete Silberman and Michael Lerner have shared the new song “Wheels Roll Home” Listen to it below.
After “Familiars”, the Antlers refuted rumours that they’d broken up. Silberman released a solo album in 2017 called “Impermanence” before Spatial Relations, his duo with Nicholas Principe, recorded music for Slate’s Slow Burn podcast and Luminary’s Fiasco podcast, as well as Malcolm Gladwell’s Talking to Strangers audiobook.
It’s been way too long, friends. But we’ve finally got something new to share with you, a song called “Wheels Roll Home”, out now via Anti records and Transgressive. “Wheels Roll Home” is a simple song about the hopeful promise of reunion after a long time gone. It’s that feeling of finding home in someone, eager and impatient to build a life together. It’s the experience of waiting out tumultuous times, longing for stability someday. Written by Peter Silberman & Michael Lerner Featuring Jon Natchez on bass clarinet
Last year, the Antlers toured and released a 10th Anniversary reissue of their “Hospice” album.
The first-ever official anthology of recordings from the iconic rock duo, Jack and Meg White, is an essential career-spanning collection highlighting 26 previously released White Stripes songs – from late nineties flashes of brilliance through early 2000s underground anthems, masterful MTV moon man moments, grammy-grabbing greatness, and worldwide stadium chants…the songs here are as wide-ranging as you can imagine.
Twentysome years ago, a brother and sister climbed into the third floor attic of their southwest Detroit family homestead and bashed out a primitive cover of David Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream,” sparking something in both of them and leading them to take their simple guitar-drums-voice approach to a local open mic night on bastille day. in what feels like a whirlwind, they record and release two 7-inch singles for a local indie label. a not-so-local indie offers to put out a full-length album. they start touring. another album. more touring. another album.
Accompanying the announcement is a previously unreleased live video of the band performing “Ball and Biscuit”—the only song so far confirmed for the tracklist—Live in Tokyo in 2003.
In addition to the standard CD, double LP, and digital editions, a 3xLP edition with colored vinyl will be available as part of Third Man’s Vault Package subscription. The Vault version also features new artwork from the White Stripes’ collaborator Rob Jones, silk-screen prints, and White Stripes-themed magnetic poetry. More special versions, benefitting independent record stores, will be announced later, according to a press release.
Folks really start to pay attention. crazy touring, more albums, accolades, wildest dream after wildest dream coming true. “world-renowned” becomes an appropriate descriptor, as does “long-building overnight sensation.” the same hard work and dedication that the White Stripes exhibited from the onset of their existence is what has been poured into the White Stripes Greatest Hits. in an era of streaming where the idea of a “Greatest Hits” album may seem irrelevant – that an act’s most streamed songs are considered their de facto “Hits” – we wholeheartedly believe that great bands deserve “Greatest Hits” and that a large part of Third Man Records’ and the White Stripes’ successes have been built on zigging when the rest of the music business is zagging. thus, for a great band with great fans, a greatest hits compilation for the White Stripes is not only appropriate, but absolutely necessary.
Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen has died at age 65 after a battle with cancer. The Van Halen founder had his wife Janine and his son Wolf by his side during his final moments at St.John’s Hospital in Santa Monica
With his distinct solos, Eddie Van Halen fueled the ultimate California party band and helped knock disco off the charts starting in the late 1970s with his band’s self-titled debut album and then with the blockbuster record “1984,” which contains the classics “Jump,” “Panama” and “Hot for Teacher.”
Van Halen is among the top 20 best-selling artists of all time and the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. Rolling Stone magazine put Eddie Van Halen at No. 8 in its list of the 100 greatest guitarists.
The news was confirmed by his son Wolfgang. “I can’t believe I’m having to write this, but my father, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, has lost his long and arduous battle with cancer this morning,” he wrote “He was the best father I could ever ask for. Every moment I’ve shared with him on and off stage was a gift. My heart is broken and I don’t think I’ll ever fully recover from this loss. I love you so much.
Van Halen’s health woes began in 2000 when he was treated for tongue cancer. Initially, the guitarist, who traditionally didn’t talk about his well-being, would only admit to having undergone an outpatient procedure to prevent cancer. He later revealed that a third of his tongue was removed in surgery and was declared cancer free in 2002.
That status would not last forever. The cancer returned in 2011, this time spreading to his esophagus. Soon afterward, the musician was forced to have emergency surgery due to a severe – though unrelated – case of the digestive disorder diverticulitis.
Though Van Halen was once a heavy smoker, he blamed a different habit for his diagnosis: “I used metal picks – they’re brass and copper – which I always held in my mouth, in the exact place where I got the tongue cancer,” he told Billboard magazine in 2015. “Plus, I basically live in a recording studio that’s filled with electromagnetic energy. So, that’s one theory. I mean, I was smoking and doing a lot of drugs and a lot of everything. But at the same time, my lungs are totally clear. This is just my own theory, but the doctors say it’s possible.”
In more recent years, Van Halen undertook various nontraditional procedures and even an experimental radioactive rinse in an attempt to keep the cancer at bay.
The rocker’s declining health had been the subjects of many rumors, whispers which were amplified by his band’s inactivity. A photo in which Van Halen appears to have a shaved head and gaunt look circulated in June 2019, further stoking fans’ fears.
Van Halen was born in the Netherlands, but moved to Southern California with his family at the age of seven. Raised in a musical household, the future rock star initially learned the piano before discovering the guitar.
Great shot of a Van Halen stage set-up we were rigging . Birmingham Odeon 22nd June 1980
Eddie and his older brother Alex formed their first band, the Broken Combs, in 1964. As the group continued to evolve, it adopted several other names, including the Trojan Rubber Co., Genesis and Mammoth. The band, which at this point had welcomed singer David Lee Roth and bassist Micheal Anthony changed their name to Van Halen in 1974.
Van Halen made a name for themselves in the Los Angeles music scene, playing everything from house parties and school dances, to shows at the legendary Whiskey a Go Go. Though an initial demo tape, recorded with Gene Simmons , did not generate interest, the band eventually signed their first record deal in 1977.
Released February. 10th, 1978, Van Halen’s self-titled debut album launched the band into stardom. Tracks like “Runnin’ With the Devil,” “Jamie’s Cryin’” and a cover the Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” became worldwide hits. Chief to Van Halen’s sound was Eddie’s guitar work, a distinct blend of aggression and braggadocio. His style would help usher in a golden age of guitar playing and became the high-water mark to which other ax wielders were measured. Meanwhile Van Halen would go on to sell more than 10 million copies, becoming one of the biggest debuts of all time.
Over the next four-plus decades, Van Halen would cement themselves as one of the biggest rock bands in the world. Sold-out tours, millions of adoring fans and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame only begins to explain the magnitude of their legacy. A string of multi-platinum albums reflected their massive commercial appeal, with the group’s seminal LP “1984″ ranking among the best-selling of the ‘80s. Even as the band endured line-up changes, most notably the decade-long period from 1986-96 in which Sammy Hagar replaced Roth, Eddie remained the dependable engine of the Van Halen machine.
Family was also paramount to Eddie. In 1982, his father, Jan, recorded clarinet on the band’s version of “Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now).” The Van Halen patriarch had previously been a musician in his own right, performing in groups throughout the Netherlands and U.S. before instilling the musical bug in his sons. Even though the jazzy track was a departure in sound for the band, it became a fan favourite.
Years later, Eddie welcomed another family member into the band, his son, Wolfgang. The bassist was only 15 when he replaced Anthony in the group, touring with Van Halen and contributing to their 2012 album A Different Kind Of Truth. Eddie was married to Wolfgang’s mother, actress Valerie Bertinelli , for 26 years. The couple divorced in 2007; the guitarist later married actress Janie Liszewski in 2009.
Eddie’s contributions to music were not limited to Van Halen. The guitarist famously played the solo on Micheal Jackson’s “Beat It” co-wrote tracks with Black Sabbath and created a line of guitars and accessories.
Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath said he was “devastated” and posted the picture of the pair. “He fought a long and hard battle with his cancer right to the very end,” said the guitarist. “Eddie was one of a very special kind of person, a really great friend. Rest In Peace my dear friend till we meet again.”
Beach Boys singer Brian Wilson also paid tribute, recalling the band’s early impact on the Los Angeles scene. “I just heard about Eddie Van Halen and I feel terrible about it,” tweeted Wilson. “Eddie was such a great guitarist and I remember how big Van Halen was, especially here in L.A. Love and Mercy to Eddie’s family & friends.”
Lenny Kravitz added simply: “Legendary guitar and musical innovator Edward Van Halen. 1955-2020. Heaven will be electric tonight.” Still, if a man’s legacy is best defined by the influence he has on others, then it’s Eddie’s fellow musicians who can encapsulate what he meant to the world.
Aerosmith’s Joe Perry has stated that Van Halen “reinvented guitar playing,” while Jeff Beckpraised his “amazing technique.”
The Who announced the upcoming release of “WHO: Deluxe Edition”, featuring their latest album, a new Pete Townshend remix of “Beads On One String” (under the moniker Yaggerdang), and a clutch of live recordings from earlier this year called“Live At Kingston”. The collection will be available as a 2-CD set or in a special limited edition 6×7″/1-CD set bringing together the CD of concert material and 6 singles with songs from the album. The 2-CD set arrives October 30th while the vinyl/CD set is due for release on December 4th.
As their first album of new material, WHO reminded fans of the lasting power of one of rock’s greatest groups. Pete Townshend’s latest compositions like “Hero Ground Zero,” “Detour,” “All This Music Must Fade,” and “Beads On One String” sound both current and timeless. Townshend’s blend of symphonic rock, blues, and power-pop were matched by Roger Daltrey’s strong, expressive vocals. With a killer cast of musicians backing Townshend and Daltrey up, “WHO” has proved vivacious and worth revisiting.
To promote the album, The Who staged four intimate acoustic shows at PRYZM in Kingston upon Thames. Billed as their smallest-capacity shows in four decades, these shows are the most recent live recordings from The Who.
The WHO, live performances from their February 2020 club dates which celebrated the 50th anniversary of their historic concert at Leeds University. The first two of four acoustic concerts were held on February. 12th, followed by two more on the 14th. All four were instant sell-outs when tickets went on-sale in mid-December. All were held at a venue called Pryzm in Kingston-Upon-Thames, U.K., outside of London, which is miles away from the university where they famously performed exactly 50 years earlier, on February 14th, 1970.
The setlist for both of the Feb. 12th shows was just eight songs, spanning early favorites like “Substitute” and “The Kids Are Alright” through two tracks from the well-received December 2019 release, WHO. Those in attendance on Feb14th were treated to two additional songs when the Who offered a bit of Eddie Cochran’s “Three Steps to Heaven” and gave their first live performance since 2008 of their own “Tattoo.”
To get a sense of how intimate the concerts were, here’s a clip from the early show on Feb 14th, where Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend talk about their attempt to score a #1 album for the new album, only to be blocked, as Townshend recalls, by “that f**king c*nt Rod Stewart. We love him… actually he’s an old buddy of ours.” After more back-and-forth and thanking the fans, they perform “Behind Blue Eyes.”
Seven songs from those February 2020 shows make their physical debut here. Among them, the live staples “The Kids Are Alright” “Substitute,” the fan-favorite “Tattoo” (played on stage for the first time since 2008) and pair of songs from “WHO”. In the vulnerable setting of this intimate gig, The Who present slightly stripped-down arrangements of the jaunty, Simon Townshend-penned “Break The News” and the jazzy “She Rocked My World.” All this before a show-stopping “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”
As for the new remix of “Beads On One String” – released today as a digital single – here’s what Pete Townshend had to say:
‘Beads On One String’ is a co-write with Josh Hunsacker who I met on Soundcloud. He wrote the music, I wrote the lyric and vocal melody. In 1932 on a visit to London, the spiritual master Meher Baba said that he had come to draw all the religions of the world together like beads on one string. We wait in hope, with love.
The ‘Beads On One String’ remix was an adventure to try to recapture some of the subtleties of my first solo demo. I love the studio version, but this remix by Myles Clarke and myself returns to the original synthesizer demo shared with me by my co-writer Josh Hunsacker. I also play bass rather than the genius Pino Palladino (I’ve got some nerve) and we removed the real drums and returned to computer drum tracks programmed by my co-producer Myles Clarke. We also restored Roger’s vocal track to its first incarnation which is more heartfelt. This is a gentler version of this song, less demanding perhaps, less bullying about our need to cut each other space, each on our own path. Why does it need to be more gentle than the album version? Because it must stand alone in a period when each of us is tempted to blame someone else for our troubles, maybe even God whoever we take her/him/both to be. I’m hoping it sounds less rock, and more modern indie-pop to new listeners.”
Taken from WHO 2020 Deluxe with Live At Kingston, Out 30th October
This new deluxe edition of WHO finds the band revitalized in the studio and onstage. Whether you missed out on The Who’s triumphant return the first time around or you want to complete your collection, the deluxe edition of WHO will be one to look out for. (Note that the previously issued bonus tracks “This Gun Will Misfire,” “Got Nothing to Prove,” “Dannyand My Ponies,” and “Sand (Demo)” – the latter a Japan exclusive – are all absent from this reissue.) check out Pete “Yaggerdang” Townshend’s remix of “Beads On One String,” released today across platforms.
The Who has one of the greatest rock legacies in music history – they’re one of the all-time great live bands, have sold over 100 million records worldwide, and had 10 US and 11 UK top ten albums and 14 UK top ten singles in a career spanning six decades.
WHO was mostly recorded in London and Los Angeles during spring and summer 2019 and was co-produced by Pete Townshend and Dave Sardy (who has worked with Noel Gallagher, Oasis, LCD Soundsystem and Gorillaz) with vocal production by Dave Eringa (Manic Street Preachers, Roger Daltrey, Wilko Johnson). Singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend are joined on the album by long-time Who drummer Zak Starkey, bassist Pino Palladino along with contributions from Simon Townshend, Benmont Tench, Carla Azar, Joey Waronker and Gordon Giltrap.
Limited Edition Numbered 7” Boxset includes WHO pressed on 6 x 7” vinyl pieces all with individual artwork + Live at Kingston Bonus CD, a special acoustic performance recorded on 14th February 2020, 50 years to the day since the seminal Live at Leeds show.
When Jimi Hendrix was asked what it was like to be the best guitarist in the world, he replied, “I don’t know, why don’t you go and ask Rory Gallagher.” Despite the indelible mark left by the Scottish blues-rocker, Gallagher tends to be unfairly cast aside. UMe have done their part with acclaimed collections like last year’s “Blues” and the 2020 live set “Check Shirt Wizard – Live In ’77″. This Friday, October 9th, the label will release a new career-spanning collection: The Best Of Rory Gallagher.
The estate of late guitar hero Rory Gallagher is set to release a greatest hits collection, dubbed The Best of Rory Gallagher, on October 9th. On Thursday, Universal Music Group released a rare studio outtake of The Rolling Stones classic “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” featuring Jerry Lee Lewis to be included on the collection.
The Best of Rory Gallagher features a two-CD set with 30 tracks spanning the Irish guitarist’s career, going all the way back to his first band Taste in 1969 and all the way through his final album, 1990’s “Fresh Evidence”.
The cover of “Satisfaction” is actually an outtake from Lewis’ 1973 album “The Session”…Recorded in London with Great Artists. Those sessions heard Lewis record a handful of 1950’s-era rock n’ roll standards, alongside a few contemporary numbers with help from Gallagher, Mick Jones, Peter Frampton, Kenney Jones, and many more.
While the song is currently being released under the Rory Gallagher catalogue, the show was very much Jerry Lee Lewis’ at the time. Gallagher opens up the song by going after the root chords of the classic, rather than the iconic riff, and ends up making the popular Rolling Stones song his own. It is Lewis, however, who comes to steal the show with a piano solo that sees the American rock n’ roll pioneer meshing with some of the very music he inspired.
Listen to the collaboration between Jerry Lee Lewis and Rory Gallagher on “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” below.
The album will be available in 1CD (15 songs), 2CD (30 songs), 2-LP (30 songs), and digital configurations, as well as a uDiscoverMusic-exclusive clear vinyl edition with a bonus single featuring an alternate mix of Jerry Lee Lewis and Rory Gallagher’s rendition of The Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction.” That previously unreleased track is also available on the 2-CD edition. The collection spans the guitarist’s Polydor, Chrysalis, and Capo recordings originally issued between 1970 and 1990 including a handful of tracks with the band Taste and a posthumously issued track first released in 2010; Gallagher passed away in 1995 at the far too young age of 47.
At the center of Tenerife stands Mt. Tiede, inviting you to climb it’s beautiful slopes, yet reminding you of the destruction it can unleash at any moment. The volcano has become the symbol at the center of Palace Winter’s third album “Keep Dreaming, Buddy”, and their lead single from the LP, Top of the Hill featuring Soffie Viemose of Lowly.
An unmissable, forward-looking optimism shades their previous two albums, despite touching on grave themes of death, grief, and trauma. What is new, however, is not just optimism, but celebration in the face of uncertainty, and the sonic idiosyncrasy this contrast creates. Keep Dreaming Buddyis a portal into their new reality of even brighter colours, even more disparate influences, and constant reminders of life’s fragile existence…
A party in idyllic Tenerife with the ever-present volcano rumbling in the distance. Palace Winter are Australian lead singer and guitarist Carl Coleman and Danish, classically trained pianist and producer Caspar Hesselager. Their third album is once again mixed and mastered by Hesselager and produced by both Hesselager and Coleman. And as the story of the album shows, the two have forged an ever-growing and symbiotic relationship together.
from the album “…Keep Dreaming, Buddy”, out on October 23rd,
Petrol Girls are a female-fronted band. The point of this band is feminism, delivered to your skull and your heart via an extraordinarily-talented hardcore punk band. But let’s be clear: they do so because they are fronted by a woman – namely, the legend that is feminist activist, punk Masters student and international artiste, Ren Aldridge.
‘Sister’ begins more slowly, showcasing some beautiful, melodic guitar work – but, much more to the point, giving room at the start of the accompanying video for the voices of the band’s punk community to talk about what sisterhood means to them. Allowing others to be heard is a key theme for Ren – she passes the mic, especially to her sisters. She says:
“I’ve been wanting for us to write a song about sisterhood for a long time, because it’s these relationships that have had the biggest impact on my life and that form the heart of my feminism. I think society often puts too much emphasis on sexual relationships when sisterhood is incredibly important and powerful. This song celebrates a relationship that can pose a real threat to capitalism and patriarchy because it challenges competition and is built on care and trust.”
No bourgeois intros for the Petrol Girls: their new EP ‘The Future is Dark’ starts feet on the floor, drums clicks in, and straight in your face with a sucker-punch message:
‘I’m not a victim, I survived – it was my anger that kept me alive’.
Right to it: brutal, honest, raw punk poetry straddling hefty guitars and intricate drums. ‘Survivor’ is a message of fierce solidarity with the #metoo generation. Nodding, crying, dancing, raging: all appropriate reactions to this anthem.
Final track ‘Strike’ is a good old fashioned call to arms, and it fucking rocks. If you haven’t thrown down your tools, nose-thumbed the boss, and organised your fellow-workers into counter-hegemonic action after 3 minutes’ listening then you need to listen again, and better:
Are you waiting to storm the winter palace, bro?
picture yourself on the front page?
do you want a fucking monument
or are you here to make change?
Of course, the band call ‘all out’, leave the studio at around 2 minutes 30 into the track, and presumably go hold some meetings.
A new EP ‘The Future Is Dark’ will be released via Hassle Records on 14th September.
The EP is named after a Virginia Woolf quote that writer Rebecca Solnit uses as a starting point for her essay ‘Woolf’s Darkness,’ in ‘Men Explain Things To Me.’ She writes about accepting uncertainty and not fearing the dark or the unknown because actually we don’t know what will happen next. She describes despair and optimism both as forms of certainty that create grounds for not acting, whereas hope pushes us to act and make change in whatever ways we can. “The dark, just like the future, is full of possibilities” – it makes me think about how its only in the dark that we can see the stars and think about ourselves as just tiny parts of this cosmic system, as part of a bigger picture. I find it really grounding and inspiring to feel individually small but part of something huge.
The Fat Angel Sings 